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Saturday, January 29, 2022

Blackface And Blackfishing In Bolivian Tundiki And Caporal Dances (video, information, & comments)



loschales, Jan 10, 2010

San Benito (Saya),ritmo tipico de la region de los Yungas, (valle semi-tropical al norte del dpto. de La Paz-Bolivia) donde vive la poblacion afro-boliviana, Los Caballeros del folklore, junto a Los Payas, Los Chaskas, Los Caminantes, José Zapata............ y muchos otros, marcaron una epoca de oro en el folklore boliviano, alla por los años 60, 70, 80... ****

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part V of a five part pancocojams series about Afro-Bolivian people and Afro-Bolivian music &  dance. 

This post showcases a video about Afro-Bolivian music and dance and presents selected excerpts and comments about blackface in Bolivian Tundiki (Tundique) and Caporal dances. 

The Addendum to this post presents an article excerpt about Blackfishing, since that term was used in the comments below. 

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/01/information-videos-about-afro-bolivians.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. That post presents an excerpt from the Wikipedia page about Afro-Bolivians and a reprint of an online article about Afro-Bolivian history and culture. That post also showcases three videos about Afro-Bolivians.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/01/information-four-videos-of-afro.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. That post presents information about and four videos of the Afro-Bolivian Saya dance.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/01/online-comments-about-saya-caporales.html for Part III of this series. That post presents selected comments about the Afro-Bolivian Saya music and dance, and about Caporal and other Bolivian folk dances.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/01/excerpt-from-1998-book-about-history-of.html for Part IV of this series. That post presents an excerpt of a 1998 book about the history of Afro-Bolivian Saya and the history of Bolivian Caporal.

The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, and educational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners. 

Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this video on YouTube.  

**** EXCERTS ABOUT TUNDIKI AND CAPORAL Excerpt #1 From
https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/afro-bolivians#:~:text=Estimates%20of%20the%20population%20of,throughout%20Bolivia%20speak%20mostly%20Spanish. 
“Afro-Bolivians

….Conflict. There is competition and racial tension between the Aymara and Afro-Bolivian migrants in La Paz and, to a lesser degree, between the Aymara and rural Afro-Bolivians. In the city of La Paz, Afro-Bolivians face heightened forms of racism and discrimination in their daily lives. Afro-Bolivians are in direct competition for jobs with Aymara Indians, who are the largest ethnic group in La Paz. As early as the days of colonial slavery in the highland mines of Potosí, the Aymara mocked Black cultural traditions, especially in a dance (performed in blackface while drumming and singing) called saya or tundiki. These Aymara dance practices continue in the 1990s and are one source of racial tension between Afro-Bolivians and Aymara in La Paz. Migrants attend informal public forums that they call debates, where they openly address their grievances with the Aymara and express their experiences of being a small Black minority in a country dominated by Indians. Among their complaints are the superstitious beliefs some Bolivians have regarding Blacks (e.g., that seeing a Black person or offering one a glass of milk can bring good luck). The saya or tundiki occasions much resentment. At debates held in 1992, Afro-Bolivians said they felt marginalized and that they believed that Aymara migrants had better job opportunities than did Blacks."...
-snip-
This sentence is given in italics to highlight it.

****
Excerpt #2
From "We Are People of the  Yungas,  We Are the Saya Race" by Robert Whitney Templeman (426-444) in Blackness in Latin America and the Caribbean: Social Dynamics and Cultural Transformations, Vol 1, editors Norman E. Whitten, Jrand Arlene Torres, (Bloomington:Indiana University Press 1998)
[retrieved from 
Google Books)
[page 434]
....As she recounts the story, high school students had not previously danced in the entrada (entrance parade) of their town’s annual festival.  The idea to dance in Coroico’s parade was suggested by Oscar Gisbert, secretary of Coroico’s high school.  Before this, the only representation of Bolivian black people to be found at regional festivals such as this were parodies like los negritos (pejorative: “the cute Blacks “) and tundiki, which comprises black faced mockeries of stereotyped colonial slaves performed by Aymara dance troupes (Templeman 1996).  Sra. Fortunata Medina de Perez, along with other Afro-Bolivians, says that to dance back then was to expose one’s cultural features to the enacted discourse of disparagement leading to mockery and ridicule....

On October 20, 1982, these high school juniors entered Corioco’s parade to publicly dance saya in honor of the Virgin de la Candelaria.  Furtunata Medina, one of the members of that high school class and one of the founders of the Movimiento Negro, told me that the people of Coroico cheered with delight when we entered the plaza dancing saya.. Also present. But less enthused, were Afro-Bolivians from the Yungas and La Paz who were shocked and embarrassed by the display.  Sixteen years later, one of these individuals explained to me that she felt ashamed to see her brothers and sisters dancing saya.. She, along with many others. felt that dancing saya was fueling the continued mockery of black people by indios (Indians, but with a definite pejorative connotation) and tundiki dance troups. (Templeman 1996)."...

****
SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THE DISCUSSION THREAD OF THE YOUTUBE VIDEO THAT IS EMBEDDED IN THIS POST (with English translations given below each entire portion). Numbers added for referencing purposes only.
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPAoRyzBOi8&ab_channel=Loschales
1
. Franklin Rojas Ramos, 2016
"CUALQUIERA SE DARÍA CUENTA QUE DE ESTE RITMO VIENE CAPORALES ...VAMOS NO  HAY POR DONDE PERDERSE ."

**
Reply
2. Roger Rufino, 2017
"Franklin Rojas Ramos obviamente sii :v

Nadie lo niega

Todo boliviano

Sabe q el caporal antes fue tundiqui boliviano"

**
Reply
3. Alejandro Gomez, 2018
"TUNTUNA SOLO ES UNA CANCION DE LA DANZA TUNDIQUE.

EL TUNDIKI ES UNA DANZA AYMARA DEL PERU COLONIAL. El caporal es un personaje del TUNDIKI.

No son generos bolivianos porque su creacion es colonial al igual que la diablada, morenada y otras danzas que notablemente los puneños han sabido luchar contra todo un pais. SALUDOS"

**
4. Reply
J L. 2020
"Exactamente es así. De este ritmo surge el caporal. Te recomiendo que veas estos videos que son 5 me parece. Ahí explica claramente. SAYA, TUNTUNA, TUNDIQUI, CAPORALES Y AFROSAYA ACLARACIONES E HISTORIA DE (Ritmos bolivianos) 1/4 - YouTube https://swky.co/egjLWl"

**
Reply
5. Jonathan Adan Orellana Burgoa, 2021
"Musicalmente la saya tundique, saya caporal , negritos es lo mismo pero comp danza el coparal nace con los Estradas. Perú no tiene registros musicales del tundique ya que es  Boloviano. Puno tiene una danza llamado tundique que segun registros de principios del siglo XX  era una danza que se parecia a  la danza de diablitos y qur se acompañaba con instrumentos nativos andinos , luego se dejo de bailar esta danza hasta mediados del siglo anterior , luego en el 55 bailan tundique pero ya no el puneno, ya bailan el que se bailaba en ORURO BOLIVIA QUE POR CIERTO HAY CRONICAS DE FINALES DEL SIGLO IX  QUE DICE QUE ESTA DANZA SE BAILABA EN ORURO POR MESTIZOS EMULANDO A LOS AFROBOLIVIANOS ACOMPAÑADOS DE BOMBOS Y RECOS. ASI QUE PUNO NOS PRETENDE ROBAR HASTA EL TUNDIQUE  BOLIVIANO."

**
Reply
6. Jonathan Adan Orellana Burgoa, 2021
"@Alejandro Gomez  esta equivocado revisa a tus historiadores el tundique de puno era distinto en los primeros años del siglo XX , era como la danza de diablitos y acompañados de instrumentos nativos y los punenos dejaron de bailar hasta que en 1955 surgen comparsas de tundique pero ya del Boliviano , que es distinto a lo que los punenos danzaban. Agi esta la confunción. Deben leer las cronicas del folcklore puneno antes de la invación de las danzas bolivianas que se inicia a partir de la segunda mitad del siglo XX"

**
7. Edwin Alfonzo, 2021
"Una de las referencias documentales que existe sobre el Tundique Boliviano es la de Manuel Rigoberto Paredes, en su libro “El Arte de la Altiplanicie” del año 1913 que nos dice:

♥💛💚“Los hombres de color introducidos en el coloniaje en calidad de esclavos, tuvieron varios bailes peculiares a sus costumbres y manera de ser. De estos, solo queda el de los tundiques, que ha llegado a popularizarse tanto que aún lo imitan los mestizos con aplauso y embeleso del vulgo. El vestido está compuesto de un pantalón y saco de género blanco Y LLEVA EN LAS MANOS DOS PEDAZOS DE MADERA TALLADOS Y CON DENTADURAS APROPIADAS PARA PRODUCIR UN SONIDO ÁSPERO CON EL ROCE O FROTE DE AMBAS PARTES Y CASCABELES EN LOS PIES. ENTONAN CÁNTICOS QUE ACOMPASAN CON EL MOVIMIENTO DE LOS CASCABELES Y SONIDO DE LAS MADERAS. Cantan y bailan con mucha cadencia y mímica rítmica, sin perder un momento el compás. El negro muestra siempre aptitudes especiales para el baile por eso cuando los mestizos, los que hacen de tundiques, no tienen la gracia de aquél".♥💛💚

Y existe otro documento más antiguo del mismo autor en su obra "Monografía de la Provincia de Muñecas" del año 1898, que también hace referencia a este ritmo musical netamente Boliviano, música y ritmo que compartimos con el resto de los demás países, con todo el planeta, desde el maravilloso corazón de Sudamérica para el mundo."

**
Reply
8. Jonathan Adan Orellana Burgoa, 2021
"Exacto"

****
Google translate from Spanish to English

1. Franklin Rojas Ramos, 2016
"ANYONE WOULD REALIZE THAT CAPORALES COMES FROM THIS RHYTHM... LET'S GO THERE'S NO WAY TO GET LOST."

**
2. Roger Rufino, 2017
"Franklin Rojas Ramos obviously yes: v

no one denies it

All Bolivian

You know that the caporal was previously a Bolivian tundiqui"

**
3. alexander gomez, 2018
"TUNTUNA IS JUST A SONG OF THE TUNDIQUE DANCE.

THE TUNDIKI IS AN AYMARA DANCE FROM COLONIAL PERU. The foreman is a character from TUNDIKI.

They are not Bolivian genres because their creation is colonial, just like the diablada, morenada and other dances that, notably, the people of Puno have been able to fight against an entire country. CHEERS"

**
Reply
4. J L, 2020
"It is exactly so. From this rhythm arises the caporal. I recommend that you see these videos that are 5 I think. There he explains clearly. SAYA, TUNTUNA, TUNDIQUI, CAPORALES AND AFROSAYA CLARIFICATIONS AND HISTORY OF (Bolivian Rhythms) 1/4 - YouTube https://swky.co/egjLWl "

**
Reply
5. Jonathan Adan Orellana Burgoa, 2021
"Musically, the saya tundique, saya caporal, negritos is the same but with the coparal dance, it was born with the Estradas. Peru does not have musical registers of the tundique since it is Bolovian. Puno has a dance called tundique which, according to records from the beginning of the 20th century, was a dance that resembled the dance of devils and was accompanied by native Andean instruments, then this dance was stopped until the middle of the previous century, then in the 55 they dance tundique but no longer the puneno, they already dance the one that was danced in ORURO BOLIVIA THAT CERTAINLY THERE ARE CHRONICLES FROM THE END OF THE IX CENTURY THAT SAY THAT THIS DANCE WAS DANCED IN ORURO BY MESTIZOS EMULATING THE AFROBOLIVIANS ACCOMPANIED BY BOMBOS AND RECOS. SO PUNO INTENDS TO STEAL US EVEN THE BOLIVIAN TUNDIQUE."

**
Reply
6. Jonathan Adan Orellana Burgoa, 2021
"@Alejandro Gomez is wrong check your historians the tundique of Puno was different in the early years of the 20th century, it was like the dance of little devils and accompanied by native instruments and the Punenos stopped dancing until in 1955 tundique troupes emerged but now from Boliviano, which is different from what the punenos danced. Agi is the confusion. You must read the chronicles of Puno folklore before the invasion of Bolivian dances that began in the second half of the 20th century."

**
7. Edwin Alfonso, 2021
"One of the documentary references that exists about the Bolivian Tundique is that of Manuel Rigoberto Paredes, in his book "El Arte de la Altiplanicie" from 1913, which tells us:

♥💛💚 "The men of color introduced into the colony as slaves, had several dances peculiar to their customs and way of being. Of these, only that of the tundiques remains, which has become so popular that the mestizos still imitate it with the applause and delight of the masses. The dress is made up of pants and a white cloth jacket AND IT CARRIES IN HER HANDS TWO CARVED PIECES OF WOOD AND WITH APPROPRIATE DENTURES TO PRODUCE A ROUGH SOUND WITH THE RUBBING OF BOTH PARTS AND RAFFLES ON THE FEET. THEY SING CHANCES THAT ACCOMPANY THE MOVEMENT OF THE BELLS AND THE SOUND OF THE WOODS. They sing and dance with great cadence and rhythmic mimicry, without missing a beat. The black always shows special skills for dancing, that's why when the mestizos, those who act as tundiques, they don't have the grace of that one".♥💛💚

And there is another older document by the same author in his work "Monography of the Province of Dolls" from the year 1898, which also refers to this distinctly Bolivian musical rhythm, music and rhythm that we share with the rest of the other countries, with everything the planet, from the wonderful heart of South America to the world."

**
8. Jonathan Adan Orellana Burgoa, 2021
"Exactly"

****
SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THE DISCUSSION THREAD OF THE YOUTUBE VIDEO THAT IS EMBEDDED IN THIS POST (with English translations given below each entire portion). Numbers added for referencing purposes only.
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQYs5XPhyqI&ab_channel=PATRIMONIOCULTURALINMATERIALPCI "Musica danza y canto de la musica afroboliviana" published by PATRIMONIO CULTURAL INMATERIAL PCI, May 30, 2018
1. V ictoria quispe, 2020
"Que lindo mis afroboliviano.queremos verlos bailando en el carnaval de oruro así con esa ecencia sin modificar nada 👏👏👏👏🇧🇴🇧🇴🇧🇴❤"

**
Reply
2. Gabriel Aguilar, 2020
"Siempre vienen aquí a Oruro a bailar"

**
Reply
3.Joseph G.x, 2021
"no tienen ni para el pasaje y les vas a pedir que bailen .."

**
Reply
4. Orlando Rocha, 2021
"@Joseph G.x  de donde sacas eso"

**

Reply
5. Remberto Quispe roque, 2021
"Yo bailaba caporal saya pintandome la cara de negro en el colegio son los lindos recuerdos que tengo soy yungueño pintarse es sentirse parte de este pueblo los afro son lo mas lindo que hay solo una vez tuve la dicha de verlos baylar en la paz que viva la comunidad afro"

**
Reply
6. Kai, 2021
"@Remberto Quispe roque  Blackfishing"

**
Reply
7. Kai, 2021
"
 @Remberto Quispe roque  No te sientes parte, estás haciendo un acto racista"

**
Reply
8. Remberto Quispe roque, 2022
"
@Kai  como racista? Aceptar y querer a alguien como es no es ser racista yo soy yungueño que su familia vino del altiplano de los aymaras de muy niño en las escuelas en la ciudad escuchaba frases como "tu mama es solo de pollera y la mia es de vestido ..o? Como a mi me decian en tono de burlesco "aymaristo" porque hablaba aymara ..y mejor que nadie creo que se que es racismo y el pintarse la cara para bailar tundiqui es lo mas lindo es sentirlos como los hermanos que son nuestros a los afros asi como cuando muchos que nunca se pusieron un poncho lo hacen para bailar u otro traje tipico boliviano es sentirse parte de nuestros ancestros"

**
Reply
9. Kai, 2022
" @Remberto Quispe roque  Informate sobre el tema de blackfishing"

**
Reply
10. Kai, 2022
"
@Remberto Quispe roque  Su cultura y todo lo que han vivido no recarga todo el peso histórico que tiene, es ilógico que lo compares con cosas que no tienen nada que ver"

****
Google translate from Spanish to English

 1. V ictoria quispe, 2020
"How cute my Afro-Bolivians. We want to see you dancing at the Oruro carnival like this with that essence without changing anything 👏👏👏👏🇧🇴🇧🇴🇧🇴❤"

**
Reply
2. Gabriel Aguilar, 2020
"They always come here to Oruro to dance

**
Reply
3. Joseph G.x, 2021
"They don't even have money for the ticket and you're going to ask them to dance..."

**
Reply
4.  Orlando Rocha, 2021
@Joseph G.x where do you get that from

**
5.  Remberto Quispe roque, 2021
"I danced caporal saya painting my face black at school they are the beautiful memories I have I am Yungueño painting oneself is feeling part of this town Afros are the most beautiful thing there is only once I had the joy of seeing them dance in peace long live the afro community"

**
Reply
6. Kai, 2021
"@ Remberto Quispe roque Blackfishing

**
Reply
7. Kai, 2021
"@Remberto Quispe roque You don't feel part of it, you're doing a racist act

**
Reply
8.  Remberto Quispe roque, 2022
@Kai as a racist? Accepting and loving someone as they are is not being racist. I am a Yungueño whose family came from the Aymara highlands. When I was very young, in schools in the city I heard phrases like "your mother is only in a skirt and mine is in a dress .. Or? As they used to call me in a burlesque tone "aymaristo" because I spoke aymara...and better than anyone I think I know what racism is and painting your face to dance tundiqui is the most beautiful thing is to feel them as the brothers who are ours to afros just like when many who never put on a poncho do it to dance or another typical Bolivian costume is to feel part of our ancestors"

**
Reply
9. Kai, 2022
@Remberto Quispe roque Find out about blackfishing

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Reply
10. Kai, 2022
"@Remberto Quispe roque Their culture and everything they have lived through does not carry all the historical weight it has, it is illogical for you to compare it with things that have nothing to do with it"

****
ADDENDUM: ARTICLE EXCERPT ABOUT BLACKFISHING
From 
https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/what-blackfishing-meaning-term-explained-rita-ora-accused-taking-advantage-fans-thinking-shes-black-2941481
By Rhona Shennan, 13th August 2020
"This is everything you need to know about the situation - and what “blackfishing” means.

What is “Blackfishing”?

The term Catfishing has become well known around the world, thanks to the Catfish documentary and TV show.

Most people now know that catfishing means to pretend to be someone you’re not, usually online.

This could mean using fake pictures, or making up a completely different personality.

The term “Blackfishing” might not be as well known, but it shares a similar meaning to catfish - it refers to someone who uses things like hairstyling and makeup to create and enhance certain features to make it appear as if they have black heritage or are racially ambiguous.

The term was coined by journalist Wanna Thompson after she saw a Twitter discussion about white women cosplaying as black women.

Blackfishing is an issue because it allows a person to pick and choose the “cool” parts of being black, without facing any of the discrimination that black people do.

Thompson said: “Black is cool, unless you’re actually black.”

Johanna Yaovi, the founder of the Curl Talk Project, told The Guardian: “It’s about picking and choosing common black traits and characteristics for one’s benefit, while we continue to face discrimination on a day to day basis.

“As black women, we are constantly fighting for clear, authentic representation and diversity and then have to face individuals who do blackfishing, individuals who therefore look ambiguous enough for brands to use them as emblems for diversity.”

Speaking to the Independent, writer Stephanie Yeboah described blackfishing as “a type of blackface”."....
-snip-
Historically Blackface was (and still is) used in the entertainment industry and elsewhere by non-Black people* to make fun of (mock) Black people by exaggerating Black physical features and Black (African American) speech & dance. Blackface is based on the premise that it's undesirable to be Black.

In contrast, "Blackfish" is based on the premise that there may be something to be gained if people believe that you are Black or Brown. As such, Blackfish is used by aome non-Black people on Instagram and elsewhere online and offline to imitate Black people as a means of gaining profit (money, online followers, swag). People who "Blackfish" impersonate Black and Brown people's physical features (such as brown skin color, and puffy lips), hairstyles, fashions, and speech (particularly the fashions and speech of  young, "cool" African Americans). 

*Blackface" was also required to be worn by some Black minstrels in order to work in that entertainment industry. Although they wore blackface and acted blackface, their reasons for doing so were different than the reasons non-Black minstrels wore Blackface.   

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